After bustling, busy Branson, we settled into a quiet peaceful week at Village Creek State Park near Wynne, Arkansas. We felt like we were living in a panoramic picture of beautiful fall colors on a peninsula overlooking a serene lake. We more/less had this sanctuary all to ourselves and every day we woke to the sounds of birds singing, squirrels foraging through crunchy, fallen leaves, and the sun rising across the pristine lake. We were so content we never even ventured out of the park all week! It is truly one of the most awe-inspiring places we have ever been.
We celebrated Jake’s 10th birthday in traditional fashion with cake, presents, - and flag football. I knew Ashley and I were in trouble when, on the initial play, I was running full speed ahead carrying the ball toward the end zone when Rich clipped my heal and we both went flying and tumbled to the ground. Those boys take this game seriously! We kept up with them pretty well – at first – but eventually their expertise paid off and they won the game 20-11.
This week we had an incredible opportunity to learn about the Trail of Tears - when thousands of Native Americans were forced from their land in the Southeast and moved to Oklahoma in the 1830’s. We watched a very moving video depicting this tragedy and then actually got to walk on a one-mile stretch of the trail which runs through this state park. Our hearts were drawn to a place of deep repentance for the ways in which our English ancestors played a part this incredible injustice.
It is impossible not to stand in awe of our Creator in a place brimming with so much natural beauty. God, we praise you and we thank you for how you created our environment to sustain itself and us. So often we take things for granted – like the simple act of trees taking in carbon dioxide and giving off oxygen so we can breathe. Yet even this is a testimony to Your love and care for us. You’re creativity is beyond compare. You are God alone!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Oklahoma, Fort Rock, Branson
Howdy – how y’all doing? We’ve been in the south for a few weeks now and thought we’d give y’all a shout:-) I just love those southern accents! We hit the road and headed out of MN on October 18th which means it’s now official: We’ve been living in the RV for over a year now. The weird thing is that it seems completely normal. More on that another time…
For those of you who have spent a night in our little humble abode, you will be happy to know that we got our toilet fixed in Kansas City and it no longer sounds like a jet engine! After a few days in KC, we headed south to spend a week at my aunt & uncles house in Oklahoma where they have 40 acres and full hookups. For you non-campers, that means water, electricity, and sewer. Ashley celebrated her 13th birthday while we were there and Aunt Annabelle baked her a beautiful chocolate cake. Oh, and the kids got to drive Uncle Jim’s tractor!
We also took a field trip to Fort Rock Family Camp in NW Arkansas. It was an incredible blessing to meet Terry and hear how he went from being a work-a-holic real estate agent to building a camp and homeschooling his kids. What a blessing to hear his story and see how the Lord is using this family to restore other families. The camp looks like an 1800’s town set in the backdrop of the Ozark Mountains complete with a diner, a trading post, horses – and the longest zip line in the state of Arkansas! Did we climb to the platform and take a leap of faith hanging from nothing but a wire tied to two trees? (Remember my fear of heights?) You’ll have to watch the video to find out!
After picking up Grandma Carole at the airport and saying farewell to my aunt and uncle, we headed to Branson, MO, to check out this musical city. We saw a couple of great shows: Pierce Arrow and The Haygoods. The kids got their picture taken with one of the Pierce Arrow guys who holds the Guiness Book of World Records for having the lowest voice and the widest range. Rich and I compare Branson to the Wisconsin Dells…small towns that have a point of interest. For Branson it’s all about shows. For the Dells, it’s all about water parks.
What’s it all about for us? That is a question we are pondering these days on the Bendickson bus.
For those of you who have spent a night in our little humble abode, you will be happy to know that we got our toilet fixed in Kansas City and it no longer sounds like a jet engine! After a few days in KC, we headed south to spend a week at my aunt & uncles house in Oklahoma where they have 40 acres and full hookups. For you non-campers, that means water, electricity, and sewer. Ashley celebrated her 13th birthday while we were there and Aunt Annabelle baked her a beautiful chocolate cake. Oh, and the kids got to drive Uncle Jim’s tractor!
We also took a field trip to Fort Rock Family Camp in NW Arkansas. It was an incredible blessing to meet Terry and hear how he went from being a work-a-holic real estate agent to building a camp and homeschooling his kids. What a blessing to hear his story and see how the Lord is using this family to restore other families. The camp looks like an 1800’s town set in the backdrop of the Ozark Mountains complete with a diner, a trading post, horses – and the longest zip line in the state of Arkansas! Did we climb to the platform and take a leap of faith hanging from nothing but a wire tied to two trees? (Remember my fear of heights?) You’ll have to watch the video to find out!
After picking up Grandma Carole at the airport and saying farewell to my aunt and uncle, we headed to Branson, MO, to check out this musical city. We saw a couple of great shows: Pierce Arrow and The Haygoods. The kids got their picture taken with one of the Pierce Arrow guys who holds the Guiness Book of World Records for having the lowest voice and the widest range. Rich and I compare Branson to the Wisconsin Dells…small towns that have a point of interest. For Branson it’s all about shows. For the Dells, it’s all about water parks.
What’s it all about for us? That is a question we are pondering these days on the Bendickson bus.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Summer 2009
Where do I begin? It’s been nearly four months since our last update. This summer flew by and the leaves are falling again (and so are the temperatures)! We are quickly approaching our one year anniversary (Oct. 16) since we set sail into the great unknown. When we hit the road last year, we all thought we would return to MN, sell our house, and find land. Well, we returned and we sold our house…but we didn’t buy land which means our traveling days are not yet over. Our home base campground closes October 15th – so we are hitting the road again in just a few short days.
We feel like the Israelites wandering in the desert following the cloud by day and the fire by night. We know God is leading us to land, we just have no idea what route we are taking to get there and how long it’s going to be before we arrive! I guess that’s where the walking by faith part comes in. We don’t have a clue where we’re headed, but we know God has a plan. So we’re choosing to trust Him.
Our summer was full of friends, family, sports and road trips. I won’t bore you with every detail, but here are a few highlights:
Ashley played another undefeated soccer season with Lindsey and Emily. Jake played baseball (pitcher and various other positions) and was chosen to represent his team in the 9-year-old All-Star Game. Ashley leased a horse named Autumn and rode in her first fun show this fall. Jake went to horse camp at Roselawn Stables with his friend Drake. We picked and dehydrated thirty pounds of strawberries. Ashley got pierced ears and braces on her teeth. We went to Thief River Falls to visit family; Wisconsin to look at land; Burnsville for a family reunion including my 97 year old grandmother; Father Hennepin State Park with friends doing Praise MN;. Kansas City, MO, with friends to attend a horse conference, Royals game, and water park; Strawberry Lake Christian Retreat Camp – what a blessing! Baker Park with college friends; The Stones came to visit us; Grand Forks, ND, for a wedding on Rich’s side.
And finally, the grand finale – a weekend at Tettagouche State Park on the North Shore of Lake Superior which included touring Round River Farm (awesome!), taking fourth place (out of four 4:-) in a whiffle ball tournament, and meeting some wonderful new friends – David and Lise.
As I write and remember the last few months, it brings me to a place of deep gratitude. We have so much to be thankful for. The North Shore inspired the music for this slideshow because He makes everything glorious!
We feel like the Israelites wandering in the desert following the cloud by day and the fire by night. We know God is leading us to land, we just have no idea what route we are taking to get there and how long it’s going to be before we arrive! I guess that’s where the walking by faith part comes in. We don’t have a clue where we’re headed, but we know God has a plan. So we’re choosing to trust Him.
Our summer was full of friends, family, sports and road trips. I won’t bore you with every detail, but here are a few highlights:
Ashley played another undefeated soccer season with Lindsey and Emily. Jake played baseball (pitcher and various other positions) and was chosen to represent his team in the 9-year-old All-Star Game. Ashley leased a horse named Autumn and rode in her first fun show this fall. Jake went to horse camp at Roselawn Stables with his friend Drake. We picked and dehydrated thirty pounds of strawberries. Ashley got pierced ears and braces on her teeth. We went to Thief River Falls to visit family; Wisconsin to look at land; Burnsville for a family reunion including my 97 year old grandmother; Father Hennepin State Park with friends doing Praise MN;. Kansas City, MO, with friends to attend a horse conference, Royals game, and water park; Strawberry Lake Christian Retreat Camp – what a blessing! Baker Park with college friends; The Stones came to visit us; Grand Forks, ND, for a wedding on Rich’s side.
And finally, the grand finale – a weekend at Tettagouche State Park on the North Shore of Lake Superior which included touring Round River Farm (awesome!), taking fourth place (out of four 4:-) in a whiffle ball tournament, and meeting some wonderful new friends – David and Lise.
As I write and remember the last few months, it brings me to a place of deep gratitude. We have so much to be thankful for. The North Shore inspired the music for this slideshow because He makes everything glorious!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Moving
We’ve been back in MN for two months now and so much has happened in eight short weeks. First, in case you haven’t heard yet - we sold our house – and closed this week! We feel very blessed to be passing our home to a sweet family with two young children. And we are so grateful for God’s timing. Having to come back during our trip to pack up the house in the middle of winter would have been a big bummer now that we know how much work it really was. It is amazing how much time and energy it takes to pack up a house! We honestly thought we had the bulk of it behind us before we left. But cleaning out the nooks and crannies and putting everything in storage is simply not that simple. It takes a lot of patience and endurance – and friends with time, energy, and pick-up trucks! To our dear friends - thank you all so much!!! We couldn’t have done it without you!
God has been orchestrating some really amazing things the last few weeks. First, when we left MN last fall, we gave Rich’s car to a friend in need. Needless to say, when we arrived back this spring, we only had one vehicle. While it was somewhat inconvenient to coordinate schedules, we were making due and we were so busy we didn’t have time to figure out buying another car. But God knows our needs! About three weeks ago a friend of a friend (Dorothy) bought a new car and this time we were humbled and blessed to be on the receiving end of a car give-away! Dorothy generously gave us her 1999 Honda Civic. The kids think it’s really cool to have windows with roll down handles:-) We are excited to have another car and to someday pass it on to someone else in need.
But that’s not the end of the story! After Dorothy transferred her car to us, she and our mutual friend went out for lunch. As they were driving along, Dorothy (a recent widow) mentioned how she would love to have a piano. She had no idea that we had a baby grand piano that was scheduled to be moved into storage in just three days. Now we have Dorothy’s old car – and she has our baby grand! She gets to enjoy the piano and see if she really wants to invest in buying one – and we get free storage and the joy of knowing our piano is blessing someone else! Isn’t God’s timing amazing?!
What else? So many things…but here’s a few more tidbits of how the Lord has been moving in the midst of our move: We had Smart Boxes delivered to our house, but we never got organized enough to ask anyone to help us move all our stuff into these storage pods – yet we had three couples plus my mom show up throughout the day to help – one couple we had never met before (that’s a whole other cool story!) Thank you Scott, Suzanne, Andrew, Janet, Peter, and Susan – for all your back-breaking work!
A few days later our friend Ellen came over and cleaned the entire house – what a blessing! And then Robin called and offered to haul stuff so off we went to Goodwill (again…) and the recycling center. Janet provided every box we used – and probably packed most of them too. Thank you!! Oh, and three weeks ago, we decided to have a spur of the moment garage sale – on Memorial Weekend – to try to get rid of some big items. We listed the sale on Craig’s List on Friday, stuck the furniture in the driveway on Saturday – and sold everything! Praise God!
In the midst of normal life God reveals Himself and builds our faith as we notice all the incredible ways He orchestrates what we could never do on our own. To Him be the glory! Here are few pictures from the last few weeks along with a toe-tapping tune that has been on my heart. God is good – all the time!
God has been orchestrating some really amazing things the last few weeks. First, when we left MN last fall, we gave Rich’s car to a friend in need. Needless to say, when we arrived back this spring, we only had one vehicle. While it was somewhat inconvenient to coordinate schedules, we were making due and we were so busy we didn’t have time to figure out buying another car. But God knows our needs! About three weeks ago a friend of a friend (Dorothy) bought a new car and this time we were humbled and blessed to be on the receiving end of a car give-away! Dorothy generously gave us her 1999 Honda Civic. The kids think it’s really cool to have windows with roll down handles:-) We are excited to have another car and to someday pass it on to someone else in need.
But that’s not the end of the story! After Dorothy transferred her car to us, she and our mutual friend went out for lunch. As they were driving along, Dorothy (a recent widow) mentioned how she would love to have a piano. She had no idea that we had a baby grand piano that was scheduled to be moved into storage in just three days. Now we have Dorothy’s old car – and she has our baby grand! She gets to enjoy the piano and see if she really wants to invest in buying one – and we get free storage and the joy of knowing our piano is blessing someone else! Isn’t God’s timing amazing?!
What else? So many things…but here’s a few more tidbits of how the Lord has been moving in the midst of our move: We had Smart Boxes delivered to our house, but we never got organized enough to ask anyone to help us move all our stuff into these storage pods – yet we had three couples plus my mom show up throughout the day to help – one couple we had never met before (that’s a whole other cool story!) Thank you Scott, Suzanne, Andrew, Janet, Peter, and Susan – for all your back-breaking work!
A few days later our friend Ellen came over and cleaned the entire house – what a blessing! And then Robin called and offered to haul stuff so off we went to Goodwill (again…) and the recycling center. Janet provided every box we used – and probably packed most of them too. Thank you!! Oh, and three weeks ago, we decided to have a spur of the moment garage sale – on Memorial Weekend – to try to get rid of some big items. We listed the sale on Craig’s List on Friday, stuck the furniture in the driveway on Saturday – and sold everything! Praise God!
In the midst of normal life God reveals Himself and builds our faith as we notice all the incredible ways He orchestrates what we could never do on our own. To Him be the glory! Here are few pictures from the last few weeks along with a toe-tapping tune that has been on my heart. God is good – all the time!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Maple Grove, MN
Greetings! It’s been two weeks since we arrived back home in Maple Grove, MN, and set up camp just 6 miles from our house. We were so blessed to be welcomed home with a beautiful banner and balloons from the Martins and Frasers! Thank you so much!!
And now for the question of the day: Do you know where you’re going yet? Nope. We have no clue. But we have a God who promises He has a plan for us (Jeremiah 29:11). So we’re trusting Him, leaning not on our own understanding, and believing that His word is true – He will make our path straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). We’ll keep you posted as the journey continues…
It’s been a whirlwind the last couple of weeks with Rich traveling for work, catching up with friends, and just generally trying to settle back into life. Our house has been on the market since we left last October – and this week an offer came in – and we accepted! If all goes well, we will close June 15th. Next step is to move our stuff into storage.
And now for the question of the day: Do you know where you’re going yet? Nope. We have no clue. But we have a God who promises He has a plan for us (Jeremiah 29:11). So we’re trusting Him, leaning not on our own understanding, and believing that His word is true – He will make our path straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). We’ll keep you posted as the journey continues…
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Today is the day!
If you haven’t noticed already, we are heading north. We left Kansas City on Sunday and after a short stay in Des Moines, IA, our next stop is home sweet home - Maple Grove, MN!
I have to say it is bittersweet. On one hand, we are very excited to reconnect with those we have missed so much in the past six months. On the other hand, there is a part of us that doesn’t want this to end. We have had an amazing time and have been so incredibly blessed along the way that it’s hard to imagine this season coming to an end.
And then there is the question everyone is asking: What next? The truth is we are wondering the same thing! Our house is still for sale. And though we believe we are moving to a place with land, we don’t know when. And we don’t know where. This is the part of walking by faith that isn’t so easy. Being willing to wait without trying to figure it out and make something happen is hard. Living in the unknown is unusual for us. We’re planners. We like our ducks in a row. We are accountants and this doesn’t balance!
But above all else, our heart’s desire is to live a life of faith - trusting and depending on God to lead the way. He is faithful, and though it feels uncomfortable, we really do believe that all He has in store for us is good.
I can’t think of a better way to convey where we are at than this song. No pictures of us this time…just Lincoln Brewster pouring out his heart singing words we are claiming as our own. Today is the day!
On a side note, yesterday I was pondering life from a different perspective…you can read more at http://conniebendickson.blogspot.com/
I have to say it is bittersweet. On one hand, we are very excited to reconnect with those we have missed so much in the past six months. On the other hand, there is a part of us that doesn’t want this to end. We have had an amazing time and have been so incredibly blessed along the way that it’s hard to imagine this season coming to an end.
And then there is the question everyone is asking: What next? The truth is we are wondering the same thing! Our house is still for sale. And though we believe we are moving to a place with land, we don’t know when. And we don’t know where. This is the part of walking by faith that isn’t so easy. Being willing to wait without trying to figure it out and make something happen is hard. Living in the unknown is unusual for us. We’re planners. We like our ducks in a row. We are accountants and this doesn’t balance!
But above all else, our heart’s desire is to live a life of faith - trusting and depending on God to lead the way. He is faithful, and though it feels uncomfortable, we really do believe that all He has in store for us is good.
I can’t think of a better way to convey where we are at than this song. No pictures of us this time…just Lincoln Brewster pouring out his heart singing words we are claiming as our own. Today is the day!
On a side note, yesterday I was pondering life from a different perspective…you can read more at http://conniebendickson.blogspot.com/
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